Historic Headlines

On Nov. 16, 1933, at 10 minutes before midnight, the United States and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a telegram to the Soviet leader Maxim Litvinov, expressing
hope that United States-Soviet relations would “forever remain normal and friendly.”

The United States had broken off diplomatic relations with Russia in December 1917, after the Communist Bolshevik Party seized power and refused to honor its debts to foreign countries. The United States remained hostile
toward Russia and the Soviet Union (founded in 1922) until President Roosevelt took office in 1933 and sought to establish relations with the Soviets, in part because the United States was the only major power yet
to recognize the Soviet Union.

The main issues surrounding the establishment of relations included the settling of Soviet debts, Soviet involvement in American domestic affairs (like supporting the American Communist Party), and the legal status
of Americans living in the Soviet Union. The New York Times described the terms of the United States-Soviet agreement, reporting that the Soviets agreed
to the “most complete pledge against Bolshevist propaganda that has ever been made,” and to allow Americans to have “complete freedom of worship” and the right to choose their own counsel
if being tried in the Soviet Union. The United States “made reciprocal pledges except regarding religion, which the Soviet did not desire.” The issue of the outstanding debts was left to be decided
later.

The hopes for friendly relations quickly broke down, however. The two sides could not reach an agreement on the debts and the United States felt that the Soviets continued to interfere in United States relations. Not
until the outbreak of World War II did the United States and Soviet Union begin to cooperate, with the Americans providing arms and material to the Soviets for their fight against Nazi Germany.

After the war, relations disintegrated again as the two countries emerged as the world’s two superpowers. The United States, representing Western democracy and capitalism, and the Soviet Union, representing Communism,
fought to promote their ideologies internationally in the cold war.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the introduction of democratic and free market reforms in Russia, relations between the American and Russian governments improved quickly. There have still been tensions between
the two countries — but over issues like missile defense, American military action in Kosovo, Russian military action in Chechnya and Georgia, and Russian relations with Communist countries.

Connect to Today:

The United States has formal diplomatic relations with all but a few countries — most notably Cuba, Iran and North Korea.

The United States broke off relations with Cuba in 1961, two years after the Communist revolutionary Fidel Castro seized power. Mr. Castro relinquished power in 2008 to his brother Raul, who has allowed for free market
reforms like a recent legalization of buying and selling property. Still, a trade embargo and “sour relations” remain as the countries “after a moment of warmth, have slipped back into a 50-year-old
pattern of cold distrust,” according to the Times Topics: Cuba overview.

Do you foresee improved relations and an end to the trade embargo with Cuba in the near future? Why or why not? What would be the benefits and risks both for the United States and for Cuba?